Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Expats meet jt. secy Home to urge Centre to intervene

Imphal free press

6 hours, 45 minutes, 29 seconds agoFrom Nelson ElangbamNew Delhi, Nov 4 : A group of Manipuri professional residing across India met with Naveen Verma, joint secretary (NE), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, to appraise him of the ongoing schools boycott and submitted a memorandum to request the state to find a solution to end the boycott by various organizations in the state. The meeting lasted for over two hours. The boycott initiated by All Manipur Student Union (AMSU), Manipur Student Federation (MSF) and Kangleipak Student Association (KSA) in the aftermath of the July 23rd incident that led to the death of a pregnant women, Th. Rabina and a civilian Ch. Sanjit has paralysed education in the state for nearly two months now. The group in their memorandum stated that the inability of the state government to end the stalemate between the student bodies and the government could have severe long-term consequences to students in Manipur. The memorandum sought an immediate solution to defuse the deadlock over boycott of educational institutions in Manipur. “We, as citizen of Manipur strongly condemn any act of violence and we will support any attempt that will bring peace in the state of Manipur. However, we believe that bringing peace at the cost of thousand of students is unjust,” said a representative of the group. The group reiterated that the present situation in Manipur calls for the government to react swiftly to find a solution to the ongoing political and social imbroglio. Naveen Verma said, “We are aware of the boycott issue in Manipur and it is considered as top priority to be addressed by the Centre. We are in the process of finding a solution and are in constant touch with the state government and I am hopeful that classes will resume shortly”. The group expressed concern as well as hope over numerous reports about a possible dialogue between the agitators and the government which has so far yielded no result.The matter is of serious concern for parents whose children face the prospect of losing one academic year. As a part of the memorandum, the group submitted a copy of Tahelka’s the Vol. 6, Issue 31, which a photo essay of the alleged killing on July 23rd in Imphal, an ‘Open Letter to Honorable Prime Minister of India-Stop the Killing in Manipur’, Various newspaper reports post the July 23rd incident and a copy of a joint press release, which were sent to media houses on October 30.